


Twenty

by YuriPirozhki (AceOfSpace)



Series: JJ Style Week 2017 [8]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Fluff, Happy Birthday JJ, JJStyle Week, JJStyleWeek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 12:25:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11509398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceOfSpace/pseuds/YuriPirozhki
Summary: As far as Jean-Jacques Leroy was concerned, twenty wasn't that important.





	Twenty

**Author's Note:**

> It's the final day of JJStyle Week and my boy's birthday! The prompt for the day is 'Birthday'! Please don't hesitate to check out the other fics in the series. Enjoy!

As far as JJ was concerned, twenty wasn’t that important.

It was a peculiar age, caught between the bookends of nineteen and twenty-one in that his rights hadn’t changed, nor had his status in society. Being Canadian, he could already do everything that a man his father’s age could do, and he had no interest in venturing to the states unless it was for competition. Whether it marked the end of an era was a grey argument, for he technically wasn’t a teenager, but he hadn’t suddenly become an adult overnight. In fact, he’d been an adult for quite some time. Jean-Jacques Leroy didn’t know what to do with twenty, and it didn’t think of it worth celebrating. 

Furthermore, as far as he was concerned, JJ didn’t think that _he_ was that important.

The idea of a birthday party, or anything to mark the occasion, was quickly tossed away as quickly as it had come to mind. It seemed like a ludicrous concept; people gathering from far and wide to celebrating him when they’d rather not give him the time of day at any other time of year. A bitter taste on his tongue still lingered from a night in the last Grand Prix Final season, when he’d tried asking countless of his fellow skaters to accompany him for dinner, but not a single one accepted. Even when he’d found them all together, they departed, preferring to inconvenience themselves rather than spend time with him. There was no point in throwing a party. He had convinced himself.

His fiancee was, once again, proving to be a godsend, and hadn’t pushed him to throw any events in the leadup to his birthday. It was one of the never-ending list of things he loved about Isabella. He loved how she always seemed to understand his perspective, and that he could talk to her about anything from his skating programs to his family’s antics to his struggles with anxiety. He loved how he didn’t have to explain his apprehensions or his fears, for she simply knew. She wasn’t going to push him to make himself vulnerable; to send out invitations to an event that nobody would attend. She’d taken him out for coffee that afternoon, and at his request, not made too big a deal of things, although he was secretly thankful for the free birthday cookie that he got. For the evening, cuddling on the couch with her was all he felt that he needed. Spending time with the woman he loved would hopefully help to quell his lonely thoughts.

“What do you say we go home, eat cake, then put on a movie and not watch it?” Isabella asked flirtatiously, her fingers inching across the coffee shop table until they touched his own.

JJ gasped in response, his eyes lighting up and smile blooming across his features. “You didn’t have to get me a birthday cake!” he protested. “It’s just another day. I get older every day; we all do.”

“How are you gonna make a wish, silly?”

“‘Don’t have to,” he replied smugly. “I’ve got everything I’ve ever dreamed of right here.” He raised the arm on which Isabella’s fingers were resting, and kissed the back of her hand. His eyes then darted to the sparkling diamond on her left forefinger. What he had done to get so lucky, he didn’t know.

“I love you too, but we both know you’re gonna wish for a world title,” she teased. 

“This season is mine,” he informed her half-jokingly.

“Let’s go.”

The car trip home was short and sweet; they spent most of the journey talking about how wonderful the next skating season was going to be, and dramatically singing to old anthems on the radio. As old as his car was getting, it had a pretty decent sound system that made even longer drives something to enjoy. He approached the driveway of his family home and was mildly disappointed, although not surprised, to find all of the lights off. His parents had mentioned a press appointment that they couldn’t reschedule. As for his siblings, he assumed that they were either watching movies or talking with their friends online. JJ didn’t know why he had the slightest glimmer of hope for a surprise party. Such an idea seemed even more ridiculous than people attending an event that he’d planned.

“Have you thought about what movie we’re gonna watch?” asked Isabella.

“Or not watch?” JJ teased in response.

“How about…” she comically scrunched her lips and furrowed her brow as she thought of the right words, “a penguin documentary!”

 _“Really?”_

“No!” she answered between spurts of laughter. “Nothing against penguins, though.”

“Obviously.”

JJ couldn’t help but think of how lucky he was to have Isabella in his life, to be able to find any kind of conversation enjoyable, no matter what the subject. The second he was caught up in her infectious laughter, it was like all of his other concerns had melted away. He had forgotten about his good-for-nothing birthday, a day like no other that celebrated an age that didn’t matter. He didn’t care that there was nobody else around to spend the evening with him, to make small talk and to comment on how old he was getting. He’d see his parents come morning and his other relatives in time. The Grand Prix Final circuit would start again in a few months, and he’d see his fellow skaters again. One quiet in the scheme of things didn’t mean much at all. It was unimportant. What did matter, however, was that he’d have another night with his favourite girl in the world, and so long as he felt loved by her on his birthday, that was enough to make him happy.

He unlocked the front door to his home while Isabella softly took his free hand. He felt her squeeze harder as the door swung open.

A bright light filled his view, and he had never been so shocked in his life.

_“SURPRISE!”_

JJ’s hands flew to his mouth before he could consciously think of it. His eyes widened tremendously, the pessimistic voice in his mind telling him that he needed to look harder, to make sure this wasn’t a trick. The living room of his family home had been decorated with balloons and streamers galore, signage with his name on it, and a large table had been filled with delicious looking platters. He could easily spot his parents, their expressions soft and warm, and his younger siblings looking much more excited to see his reaction. He felt Isabella’s fingers intertwined in his own, her gaze on him, and the countless eyes of others checking up on him, looking at _him._ The cheering that he heard was different to that of a competition in that he didn’t need to do anything to receive applause. He was being welcomed and celebrated simply because he was there, being himself.

“They’re all here … for me?” he murmured in disbelief.

“Well, they’re not here for me,” assured Isabella.

JJ was astounded by the number of people who had put aside their plans for the night to spend it with him, and those who had gone out of their way to share in his company. He had never imagined that so many people from his church would have visited, or friends from the main rink where he practised. He had cousins travel from Quebec, and even some from the States. When he spotted Leo de la Iglesia amongst the group in his living room, JJ had to do a double take. The hug that followed was one of the warmest he’d felt in years; unexpected, but genuine.

Jean-Jacques Leroy had set the benchmark low for twenty. He imagined that his birthday would go by like any other, with no celebrations or special treatment. After all, as far as he was concerned, neither he nor twenty were that important. However, on the evening of July fifteenth, he’d come to learn something. He was quite important indeed, to more people than he’d realised, and twenty was going to be the start of something incredible.


End file.
